Operation MUSCLEBOUND

(Redirected from Operation Musclebound)

Operation MUSCLEBOUND was a Terran Hegemony research project that developed the first viable myomer bundle, the precursor to the myomer musculature used in BattleMechs.

Overview[edit]

The polyacetene myomer strand had been first developed in the early age of spaceflight, but the excessively long strand length and high energy requirements to cause a contraction reduced the viability of the technology for nearly three centuries. Attempts to combine multiple strands to create bundles or muscles of myomers to reduce the length and increase the strength of contraction ultimately proved unsuccessful due to the uncoordinated contraction of individual strands, even when triggered in unison the strands would contract and twitch at random.

During Michael Cameron's reign as Director-General of the Terran Hegemony, the creation of the Hegemony Research Alliance Department resulted in the funding of a large variety of research projects. Among these was Operation MUSCLEBOUND, five section leaders and fourteen assistants led by Professor Gregory Atlas, charged with the refinement of myomer technology.

They eventually developed the "Schwarzenegger Bicep", a collection of myomer strings interwoven with a new electrically soluble nerve circuitry to reduce the electrical charge required and ensure the strands triggered as one. Experiment 45-B on 21 December 2350 saw the two meter long and ten centimeter thick bundle contract to one-tenth its original size, destroying the test harness and catapulting the lead test weights into the air in the process, wildly exceeding its creators' expectations.

The development of the first viable myomer bundle for industry led to the creation of the WorkMech and the bestowing of a noble title on Professor Atlas, who never realized the military applications of his team's work that would be created in a few decades.[1]

References[edit]

  1. The Star League (sourcebook)

Bibliography[edit]